Cheating, Poker and a Not So Full House
by JMolover13
Summary: The dwarfs think Red is cheating on Snow. They investigate and find out the truth. Prompt on Tumblr. T for language if I remember correctly...


**AN: Full prompt: ****Red Snow: The dwarfs think Red is cheating on Snow. They investigate and find out the truth. A cute, fluffy truth of your choice, :)**

"Red!" Grumpy caught up with the woman in the red cape that he and the other dwarfs had been getting to know more and more since she and Snow had become…_friends_…if you know what he means, "Hey! Red! Where ya going?"

"Oh…" She knit her brows, not just because of the morning sun but because she had to make yet another excuse. She looked around, "Just… I have to go. I'm really busy right now Grumps! Sorry." She rushed off without another word.

That was the last straw for Grumpy. He grunted at the retreating crimson and stalked back into the cabin with only a huff and a slam.

"My, my Grumpy… what's wrong?" Bashful asked.

Grumpy glared over at him, making the shy man cower away, "I'm Grumpy. What else do you expect from me."

Doc chimed in, "No… there's something on your mind. Go on. Tell us. We're your brothers…" He offered.

After staring Doc in the eye for a moment, he hunched forward over her mug and sat there to collect his words for a minute, "I think Red is…" He grunted again and shook his head.

"You think she's…?" Doc asked.

"I think she's cheating on Snow!" He scowled through his answer.

"Cheating?" Sleepy asked.

"On Snow?" Happy squinted his eyes in anger.

"Yes!" Grumpy hissed, "I mean… she's always leaving at all hours. She never tells us where and always has some sort of easy excuse to cover herself… But what I don't understand… is why…" He knit his brows further together and slumped forward.

"Well…" Doc started, "Let's just find out for ourselves who she's been running off to see and give her a piece of our minds!" He stood up.

The other dwarfs all stood and cheered as they grabbed their pickaxes… because that was what they needed to track the brunette…

Dopey, ironically, was the best tracker of them all. The rest of the brothers trailed behind him as he examined just where to go. It was the middle of the afternoon when they caught up with her. They all did their damndest to stay inconspicuous and it wasn't that hard to do seeing that they were tiny men, able to hide behind bigger objects… like other people and whatnot. They saw Red enter a bar and they saw a giant group of men go in as well, seeing their chance the dwarfs hid behind them as they entered and spread out. They found Red sitting at a table; then they saw the big flock of men join her. They took respective hiding places all around the bar and watched.

"You're the one? You're the one that everyone has been talking about?" One of the brutes asked her.

"It depends on what they're saying…" Red gave the man a cheeky smirk.

He leant back and looked her up and down flirtatiously, "I don't believe it. Something so young and beautiful could never play a game like this… Could never win against me and my friends here…"

One of the other men laughed, "I can't believe we traveled this far for this… Let's get on with it so we can leave, Jackson." He leant to the other man with an eye roll.

Red hid her grin as she challenged the man, "You're going to wish you left before the game when we're done." She then gave him a faux smile.

"Damn, kitten has claws, doesn't she?" Jackson asked.

Red glared over to the other man, "If I were an animal, I assure you I would not be a kitten… I would be a wolf."

The men around Jackson chuckled and Jackson couldn't help himself but join in as well, "Ah, I see… So, we're dealing with nothing but a bitch, men." He laughed more.

Red had had enough of these men already, she couldn't very well walk away though… too much was riding on this last pot. She huffed unnoticeably and grabbed the cards in the middle of the table all of them were gathered at. She scratched a brow with her index finger, grinning as she looked at each one of them, "Let's get on with it shall we?" She asked as she took the deck of card and seemingly had them on a spring as she pulled her hands apart, letting the cards fly from one to the other in perfect sync then closing them in one swift motion.

She smirked as their brows rose. She then spread the cards out in a horseshoe shape, letting them see the backs, collected them, then let them all see the fronts in the same fashion to show them that the cards weren't tainted. She shuffled at first with one hand then both before she spoke as she started to deal, "Okay." She sighed, "Five card draw. Jacks or better. Nothing wild. Everybody ante. Winner takes all."

One of the big, burly brutes visibly gulped after she spoke. She only gave him a wolfish grin then started the game. Everyone at the table had their strong suits… none of them were that ethical… Red's just happened to be the best… and really it was something she couldn't help… and she could never get caught doing it either… It wasn't like she was so obviously counting cards like Jackson, or false shuffling or card switching or trying to mark the cards like the rest of the lot. No… she couldn't help that her senses were so strong that she just… knew when people were lying because she could hear the slight change in their heartbeats or the unnoticeable, masked changes in their breathing. She couldn't help that she could smell the fear of losing grow stronger and stronger as she tore down each and every man in the room… She was just good at reading all of them that she won.

Of course as soon as she pulled the pot into her purse, Jackson threw his cards, pointed a finger at her and yelled, "You're a cheat!"

Red smirked, "Hardly." She rolled her eyes then stood up before he could, and leaned over him, "Tell me what I did to cheat." The man said nothing, "Exactly. I don't count cards like you." Jackson's face flashed with surprise, "Nor do I false shuffle, switch cards or mark them." She gave each man that had done those things a pointed look. "So again, I'd like you to ask me what I could have possible done to cheat when you and your posse have taken up all the methods."

"Now you listen here, girly-girl!" Jackson stood up and grabbed a hand full of her hair, yanking hard, exposing her neck to him. Before he could continue his statement he found a mining pickaxe getting friendly with his neck.

"I wouldn't threaten a lady like that if I were you." Grumpy glared at him. Jackson let go of Red and she smiled a grateful smile at the dwarf, and the rest as they all surrounded her, "And it wouldn't be wise to follow us… You all might be big and intimidating…. But we have pickaxes that cut through diamonds, and I can only imagine what they could do to flesh." She grunted as he shuffled Red out of the door.

Red smirked at the man that had caused her harm as she was escorted out by her eight favorite gents. Once outside and away from the small town they had entered into, Grumpy turned around, "What the hell are you doing going to that place? You could have gotten hurt! Then where would we be?"

"I'm sorry… I just… I needed to make some quick money, and poker is an easy game for me… I built a reputation quickly and now that I have the money I need, I won't play anymore…" She looked over to Grumpy then squinted, "Grump… why were you following me? Why were all of you following me?"

Grumpy looked around. He didn't want to tell her the truth, so he answered her question with a question, "Why do you need so much money so fast?"

Red quirked a brow in challenge, "You first."

~0~0~0~0~0~

It wasn't until a literal fork in the road close to the dwarfs cabin that Red told them to go on ahead and she would be there soon. She turned off on the trail that she took to get to her Granny's and the dwarfs all began assuming that the money was for her. They shrugged to each other and went on.

Snow was waiting on… someone to get back as patiently as possible. Once the door was open and her seven best friends came waltzing in, she stood up, "Where have you all been?" She asked with worry.

"We followed Red…" Snow wouldn't be sure whose voice she heard.

She crossed her arms and looked at them all, "Why?"

"We thought…" It was Dopey, and all the other dwarfs wanted to punch him at this point, "We thought she was doing something bad…"

"Bad?" Snow asked, "Bad like what?"

"Like breaking your heart." It was Stealthy talking now.

"Break my heart? What do you mean?"

Grumpy now hung his head as she spoke, "She's been out all the time lately… she never explains when we ask…. The sister is fishy if you ask me…" He crossed his arms, "We just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't hurt you."

Snow smiled and hugged them, "That's very nice of you all, but she could never hurt me… She's my true love. My happily ever after."

"And I would never do anything to cause her pain." Red said from the doorway. She looked form the dwarfs to Snow, "I think it's time we told them, don't you?" She asked, "I just got the last payment in…"

"It's ours?" Snow asked with a wide smile as she ran the few feet to her girlfriend, "Really?" Red nodded. Snow smiled even wider, if that were possible, before she leaned in for a kiss. The dwarfs all turned from them for a moment, giving the woman their privacy, but when they heard Snow speaking to them again, they turned back, "Red and I have some news…" Snow smiled at them all. She took in a suddenly ragged breath as she gathered herself, knowing that she would be parting from them soon, "We've found a cabin and we are moving into it."

None of the dwarfs said a thing.

Red started speaking to cover the silence, "It's just down the road from both you all and Granny… that way we can see everyone all the time still… but…" She looked at Snow.

Snow finished for the brunette, "But we will still have our privacy…"

"We give you plenty of privacy!" Grumpy said.

"Uh… I beg to differ." Red said, "We have been walked in on way to many times—Yes Bashful I mean you and Dopey…" She gave a faux glare, "And Stealthy."

Snow turned to her secret favorite dwarf, "Grumpy, I promise we will still be around… we will just retire in our own home…" She shrugged at the man and gave him a pleading stare.

Doc interrupted them, "Well… we're all happy that you're not leaving permanently." He gave a smile to them, "We will miss you though."

"Yes…" Snow said, "It won't be the same… but we all knew this would happen sooner or later…" She gave them each a hug then spoke through her eyes to her lover. Once Red gave a slight nod with a grin she turned to them, "Well, we're going to go to our cabin now and check on things…" She hugged them all except for Grumpy who wouldn't look at her. She gave him a sad smile before she took Red's hand and walked out of the cabin.

They had gone a whole ten feet from the door when it opened again. Grumpy ran behind them both and hugged them. "We're always going to be here… when you need us." It was all he said before he stalked back inside.

Red and Snow grinned at each other as they walked along the path to their new house… to their home.


End file.
